the feast of all our souls

I have an uncle I never met. 

You’re right.

And you have uncles in heaven, too. 

Yes, I do.

But when you die, part of you stays on earth, right? Is that your soul? 

No, your soul is the part of you that lives forever. The part that goes home to be with God.

Then what stays here? 

The love you had for people, and the love they had for you. It stays with them as long as they live.

Is that your spirit? 

It’s love. That’s how love works.

Can you love people in heaven? 

You can. And they can love you, too.

I don’t want to die. 

It’s ok to love your life here. I do, too. But when we die, we go home to God. That’s going to be better than anything we can imagine here.

I want to stay here. 

I understand. But we were made to return to God, too. The soul part of us. Heaven will be like going home.

In heaven, nothing is missing. 

You’re right.

Not like when we went to the doctor’s office and I left my sweatshirt. Things on earth are missing. 

Yes.

So when we go home to God, nothing will be missing. 

Exactly.

All Souls' Day

Courtesy of my six-year-old, the best exegesis I can offer on All Souls’ Day, 2015.

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2 Comments

  1. Claire on 2 November 2015 at 9:18 am

    I’ve had similar discussions with my second grader. He just can’t understand how Heaven could be better than losing his life here on earth. He asks me if there will be toys in Heaven, and I always tell him that whatever he needs to be happy will be there. I could chalk it up to childishness, but the truth is that as a new bride, I shed tears over the fact that my husband and I would no longer be married in Heaven! It is so much easier for all of us to cling to what we can see before our eyes.

  2. Genevieve on 2 November 2015 at 8:11 am

    well done SJ.

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